1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to grid computing systems and more particularly pertains to a system for authenticating and screening grid jobs on a computing grid in a secure and reliable manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Grid computing, which is sometimes referred to as distributed processing computing, has been proposed and explored as a means for bringing together a large number of computers of wide ranging locations and often disparate types for the purpose of utilizing idle computer processor time and/or unused storage by those needing processing or storage beyond their capabilities. While the development of public networks such as the Internet has facilitated communication between a wide range of computers all over the world, grid computing aims to facilitate not only communication between computers by also to coordinate processing by the computers in a useful manner. Typically, jobs are submitted to a managing entity of the grid system, and the job is executed by one or more of the grid computers making up the computing grid.
However, while the concept of grid computing holds great promise, the execution of the concept has not been without its challenges. One challenge associated with grid computing is ensuring that job requests submitted to the computing grid are authorized and legitimate, and will not negatively affect the computers of the computing grid when the jobs are performed.
The operation of a computing grid necessarily performs a large number of jobs on a large number of computers. As a result, there is a significant potential for erroneous, or even harmful, code contained in jobs submitted to the computing grid to be distributed to a large number of computers in a relatively short time period, and to cause problems on those computers. And because grid jobs are typically executed during times when the grid computers are not actively being operated so as to make grid operations as unobtrusive as possible, the primary users of the computers may not even become aware of problems with their computers until long after their computers have become disabled.
Thus, it becomes important to ensure that the grid job requests received by a computing grid are from legitimate and recognized sources to thereby reduce the likelihood that malicious code (including computer viruses and worms) will be submitted to and distributed over the computing grid. However, even legitimate and recognized grid customers may unintentionally submit jobs that have errors that make the jobs unable to be executed or that cause computers running the jobs to crash. Concerns about these potential problems can only serve to deter computer users from participating in computing grids, and thus impair the growth and success of the computing grids.
In view of the foregoing, it is believed that there is a significant need for a system that not only serves to identify job requests from legitimate sources, but also protects against erroneous jobs from causing operational problems on the computers of the computing grid.